Lifeboat Foundation

Biology is the world’s greatest manufacturing platform, according to MIT spinout Ginkgo Bioworks.

The synthetic-biology startup is re-engineering yeast to act as tiny organic “factories” that produce chemicals for the flavor, fragrance, and food industries, with aims of making products more quickly, cheaply, and efficiently than traditional methods.

“We see biology as a transformative technology,” says Ginkgo co-founder Reshma Shetty PhD ’08, who co-invented the technology at MIT. “It is the most powerful and sophisticated manufacturing platform on the planet, able to self-assemble incredible structures at a scale that is far out of reach of the most cutting-edge human technology.”

Continue reading “Hacking microbes” »

Now, for my friends that luv reading about the truly bizarre or stupid tricks that humans do. 40 knives removed from a policeman today in the Tarn Taran district in India.

In an unusual case, as many as 40 knives were surgically removed from the stomach of a policeman here who claimed that he would feel an “urge” to eat them.

A team of five doctors carried out a five-hour long surgery on Surjeet Singh (40), who is employed with Punjab Police and is posted at Tarn Taran district.

Continue reading “40 Knives Removed From Stomach of a Policeman” »

Want to be the next Captain Kirk or Spock; we’re getting more close of being a Star Trek & Star Wars world with drones and fighter jets with death lasers, cyborgs with BMI technology, sabers being developed, and now the Star Trek phaser is being developed.

Every year Star Trek’s futuristic sci-fi technology comes closer to just being “technology.” We live in a world where video chats, communicators, and real-time translators are normal, where androids are becoming more and more realistic and food replicators are almost here thanks to 3D printing. The next step? Phasers!

Continue reading “Scientists are working on a real-life Star Trek phaser” »

New way to farming.

Cellular agriculture enables production of animal protein without the need to raise and manage livestock. This is an alternative which could help meet the challenges facing the agricultural sector, given the need to produce more food because of demographic changes and growing urbanisation.

The world’s population is increasing inexorably. According to the United Nations, the planet will play host to 9.7 billion inhabitants by 2050 and and cities and towns will be accommodating the majority of the population. Back in 1960, city dwellers accounted for 34% of the world’s population, but this figure had risen to 54% by 2014 and the number of people living in cities is expected to rise by 2% per year on average until 2030. These two billion extra mouths to feed and the concentration of people in urban areas means that the entire food production and distribution chain will have to be re-thought.

Continue reading “Cellular agriculture: a way to feed tomorrow’s Smart City?” »

The restaurant, which recently opened its doors in London, England, utilizes 3D printers to create dishes out of hummus, chocolate mousse, smashed peas, goat cheese or pizza dough.

Synthetic biology allows synthesis of tailored DNA. Applications: life sciences, industrial biology, fine & specialty chemicals, energy, agriculture, & waste/bio-remediation.

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Here’s why it should also be the sweetest.

We are entering an era of directed design in which we will expand the limited notion that biology is only the ‘study of life and living things’ and see biology as the ultimate distributed, manufacturing platform (as Stanford bioengineer, Drew Endy, often says). This new mode of manufacturing will offer us unrivaled personalization and functionality.

New foods. New fuels. New materials. New drugs.

We’re already taking our first steps in this direction. Joule Unlimited has engineered bacteria to convert CO₂ into fuels in a single-step, continuous process. Others are engineering yeast to produce artemisinin — a potent anti-malarial compound used by millions of people globally. Still other microbes are being reprogrammed to produce industrial ingredients, like those used in synthetic rubber.

Continue reading “The Synthetic Biology Era Is Here—How We Can Make the Most of It” »

Scientists have just found a way to make use of plasma, the fourth state of matter, to improve bone development. Using cold fusion, researchers were able to initiate increased bone growth.

It is a bit ironic that plasma is the least known state of matter, when in fact it is the most abundant in the universe. It is found in our Sun and all other stars, lightning, in our TVs, fluorescent light, and neon signs, and (purportedly) even in our favorite fictional weapon in the Star Wars universe, the lightsaber.

Plasma can be classified according to the degree of ionization, temperature, etc, but whatever form it may take, plasma has been used in various fields, such as in spacecraft propulsion, agriculture, and quite recently, in medicine.

Continue reading “Regenerative Medicine: Plasma Being Used To Improve Bone Healing” »